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Daemen University Athletics

Western New York's Premier Division II Team
Fearless, Integrity, Effort, Respect, Commitment, Excitement
MVB_Henry Moffitt serving 2023
Geoff Schneider
3
Winner Daemen Daemen 14-4,8-1 NEC
2
LIU LIU 13-9,7-2 NEC
Winner
Daemen Daemen
14-4,8-1 NEC
3
Final
2
LIU LIU
13-9,7-2 NEC
Set Scores
Team 1 2 3 4 5 F
Daemen Daemen 23 26 22 26 15 (3)
LIU LIU 25 24 25 24 10 (2)

Game Recap: Men's Volleyball | | CONTACT: Mary Margaret Johnson, Assistant Athletics Communications Director | mmjohnso@daemen.edu

Wildcats Stuff Sharks 3-2, Clinch Playoff Spot In Inaugural NEC Men's Volleyball Tournament

BROOKLYN, N.Y. – Friday night's battle between the top teams in the Northeast Conference was nothing short of entertaining. The Daemen University men's volleyball team took down Long Island University (23-25, 26-24, 22-25, 26-24, 15-10) in a five-set thriller! The Wildcats move to 14-4 on the season and 8-1 in NEC play, while dropping LIU to 13-9 and 7-2 in conference play. 
 
With the win, Daemen regains sole possession of first place in NEC and drop Long Island into second place in the league standings. The Wildcats also clinched a playoff berth with the victory, and will play in the inaugural NEC men's volleyball championship tournament, set to take place April 19 through 22. 
 
Not only was it a battle between the top two teams in the league, it was also a battle between the top attacker in the NEC (Zach Schneider) and the top blocker in the league (Kasey Clouet), but it was LIU's Luke Chandler that stood out offensively tonight. Chandler was the top hitter in the match, leading all hitters on the floor with 23 kills. Daemen had four players that tallied double-digit kills, with Cameron Milligan (Pavilion, N.Y.) leading the Cats on the day after a huge fifth set performance. Milligan finished the day with 17 kills on 40 attacks. 

Daemen finished with 63 kills on 152 attacks for a .296 hitting percentage. The Cats stood tall at the net, with six different Wildcats recording blocks in the match as Daemen out-blocked league leader LIU 16 to 12. It marked the second straight match and fifth this season that the Wildcats finished with double-figure blocks. 

The Wildcats will conclude this weekend road trip when they travel to St. Francis Brooklyn for the final time in the regular season on Saturday in a 4 PM matchup. 
 
IMPACT PLAYERS
  • Junior opposite Cameron Milligan totaled 17 kills (3.4 kills/set) with just four errors on 40 attacks to finish with a .325 hitting percentage on the day. Milligan chipped in three blocks (two solo blocks and one assisted) and eight digs to finish with a team-high 19.5 points in the victory. Over the last two matches, the junior has totaled 42 kills (4.2 kills/set) over both five set matches.
  • Graduate student middle hitter Henry Moffitt (Sydney, Australia) finished with 14 kills and hit at a .464 clip, while adding five block assists, an ace and a dig for 17.5 points. 
  • Senior outside hitter Zach Schneider (Lockport, N.Y.) posted 12 kills. Schneider finished with nine digs, two assists, one solo block and one assisted block. The senior totaled double-digit kills for the 13th match this season, including in every single match during the month of March (7 matches).  
  • Senior opposite/middle Jake Couzens (Hamburg, N.Y.) finished with 12 kills on 18 attacks to hit at a team-high .556 percentage. Couzens tallied two blocks (one assisted, one solo), two digs and an assist. 
  • Senior setter Sean Califf (Oak Park, Ill.) tallied 52 assists (10.4 assists/set) along with nine digs and three assisted blocks. 
  • Senior libero John Jaworski (Naperville, Ill.) posted a team-high 15 digs (3.0 digs/set), marking a season high for the senior this year.
GAME NOTES
  • Tonight's match marked the second time in program history that the two teams have met. Daemen swept LIU, 3-0, in the first meeting this season.
  • After tying the first set up at 6 early, LIU went on a 5-2 run to take the lead. Daemen kept up the intensity, and after winning three of the next five points, kept the set within one. From there, the Cats and Sharks traded points all the way through to the end.
  • The Wildcats took a 23-22 lead late in the first, but the Sharks won the final three points to take the first set, 25-23.
  • LIU out-blocked Daemen 6-0 in the first. Four Wildcats tallied first-set kills, and Milligan and Schneider combined for nine of Daemen's 13 kills in the set. Daemen hit .206 percent in the first. LIU posted a .324 hitting percentage in the first.
  • Much like the first, the second set was close from the jump, with the two teams within one or two points to open up the match.
  • The second set came up all Moffitt! The graduate student posted four kills and three blocks in the set.
  • Daemen held onto a lead for the entirety of the second set until LIU went on a 5-1 streak to take the lead for the first time in the set, 13-12.  
  • After a back-and-forth battle through the second, the Wildcats took the second set, 26-24. Daemen posted a .400 hitting percentage off 16 kills, and out-blocked the Sharks 5-1 in the second set.
  • Both teams went streaking in the third set. The Wildcats won four of five points to take a two point lead, then the Sharks went on a 4-1 run of their own to return the favor and lead by one, 15-14. Late in the match, LIU went on another streak with three kills to take a 22-20 lead, and won three of the last four points to take the third set, 25-22.
  • LIU out-killed Daemen 18-11 in the third, and the Sharks tallied a .297 hitting percentage, compared to just .258 for the Wildcats, despite committing seven attack errors in the set.
  • The Sharks controlled the fourth for the majority of the set, leading by two or three points for much of the time. Daemen stayed in it late, going on a 3-1 run to keep it within two points.
  • On set point for LIU, Daemen tallied back-to-back-to-back kills from Jake Couzens, Milligan and Schneider to tie it up at 24 a piece. An attack error by Moreno put Daemen into set point with a 25-24 advantage, and a big block by Schneider and Moffitt handed the Wildcats the 26-24 set victory to send the match to a fifth set.
  • Daemen has now played in two consecutive fifth set matches, and three in the last four matches on the season. The Cats topped No. 12 ranked Cal State Northridge 3-2 on their California road trip which marked the first win over a nationally-ranked team in Daemen program history. Daemen then fell to Saint Francis 2-3 last Saturday, marking their first conference loss of the season.
  • Early on, LIU led 3-0. From there, the Wildcats picked up their first two points of the fifth set off of LIU errors. After down by two points early on, Daemen tallied five unanswered off of three Milligan kills and a block to take a 7-4 lead over the Sharks.
  • Daemen handled business in the fifth, out-killing LIU 10 to 5 for a .444 hitting percentage. The Wildcats won four of the last six points to take the fifth set 15-10 and win the match. Milligan totaled six of Daemen's 10 kills in the fifth set. 
  • The Wildcats remained ranked fifth in the latest Off The Block poll after splitting their NEC matches with FDU and Saint Francis last week.
  • Daemen accepted an invitation to join the Northeast Conference back in May, marking a significant stride for the program which has competed as an NCAA Division I-II independent since its inception in 2019. With support from the First Point Volleyball Foundation, the NEC announced men's volleyball as the league's 25th championship sport in September of 2021.
Daemen University features the premier NCAA Division II athletics program in the Buffalo-Niagara region, sponsoring 17 intercollegiate teams. For the latest information on Daemen Athletics, follow the Wildcats via social media on Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and Instagram, or sign up to receive customizable news alerts, e-mail newsletters and weekly schedule alerts.

Follow the Daemen men's volleyball program on Twitter and Instagram at @DaemenMVB.
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